


(Feel as Lonely) As I Do

by orphan_account



Series: Cheeseburger (backpack) and Fries [1]
Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: M/M, Pining, Pre-Relationship, i'll fill this damn tag myself if i have to
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-02
Updated: 2018-01-02
Packaged: 2019-02-27 07:49:05
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,309
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13243770
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Alternatively titled: Hold Your Hand by Hootie and The Blowfish plays quietly in the background.Steven is completely oblivious to Peedee's crush on him and angsts about family drama. They work it out.





	(Feel as Lonely) As I Do

**Author's Note:**

> Edit (11/21/18): i.... really don't like this fic series anymore. after re-reading it a zillion times i just feel like i messed up somewhere and i don't really want to work on it anymore. i'm not going to delete it because i know that steedee doesn't have a lot of content and i know some people genuinely enjoyed these fics, but i'm going to go ahead and say that three fics is the limit for this series and i won't be writing anymore for it.

Another argument had come to pass in the Fryman household and in its wake Peedee decided to take a long evening walk around town to cool off as his therapist had suggested. ‘Remove yourself from the situation,’ he could hear her words echoing in his mind. ‘You need to practice healthy coping mechanisms if you want things to get better.’ And he did want them to get better, lest the hour long car rides out of town in silence with his dad be for naught. 

Somehow, he found himself in one of the spots just on the outskirts of Beach City. It was a little grassy hill Ronaldo had shown him on one of the rare occasions they were getting along. Secluded, he figured it was a nice enough spot to take a moment to himself and breathe. The great cell reception was a plus, he supposed. He settled down, crossing his legs and enjoying the ocean breeze. 

Peedee could hear the soft steps of someone too gentle to really stomp despite the intent behind him. Turning, he made eye contact with the source of noise. “Steven,” he breathed out. “Hi.”

“Sorry, I didn’t think anyone would be up here.” Steven explained, pulling a hand from his hoodie pocket to run through his hair. He started backing up. “I’ll uh, leave.” 

Despite wanting to be alone before, it seemed like a horrible idea the instant the words left Steven’s mouth. “Wait, you can stay. I’d appreciate the company.” Peedee smiled in a hopefully disarming sort of way. It seemed to work; Steven stopped his retreat and came to sit over by him, his longer legs dangling over the edge of Ronaldo’s self proclaimed “Brooding Hill”.

“What are you doing up here?” Steven asked. 

Peedee hesitated. Typical Steven, putting others before himself. Peedee had pretty much calmed down from the earlier argument with his father, and talking about it now seemed  
pointless. It would probably be better to let Steven vent about whatever had the usually cheerful guy down. “Just wanted some space. What about you?”

Emotion flitted across Steven’s face before he turned away.

Peedee wouldn’t say they were close friends, certainly not as close as Steven was with Connie, but they’d hang out a few times a month and had similar senses of humor. He wouldn’t admit it to him of course, but Peedee was somewhat harboring a crush on him. Steven was kind of gorgeous in his opinion, with his dark curls and expressive eyes. Even his dumb smile and contagious laugh that he should be immune to after all these years managed to make his heart flutter. 

“Family stuff?” Peedee guessed. It was pretty much code for Gem business at this point, because Steven was considerate to the fact that not everyone was as down with the alien stuff as he was. Steven was staring at a point off in the distance, chewing his lip. 

“Um, yeah but… Not what you’re thinking. It’s my dad.”

“Oh. I get that.” If anyone was an expert at Dad Drama, Peedee liked to think it was himself. Still, it was unusual for Steven to get bent out of shape over Mr. Universe; the two had a pretty great father/son dynamic. Peedee had often been the victim of terrible bouts of jealousy after passing by the car wash and seeing the two spraying each other down with hoses. 

“Yeah.” Steven replied lamely, kicking his legs and sending loose bits of rock tumbling off the hillside. 

For a moment they were quiet, the sound of the ocean crashing against the rocks below them filling the time. 

“You wanna talk about it? I’m a good listener.” Peedee fluttered his lashes as Steven looked over, eliciting the smallest of smiles out of him, which Peedee counted as a victory. Steven turned so he was slightly facing him, taking that as a sign he was ready to open up, Peedee did the same.

“Has your dad ever been with anyone? I mean, since your mom..?” his voice was tinged with apology, like he was already regretting where the conversation was at and where it would be going. 

“Not really. He might have had one or two dates out of town, but nothing serious. At least I’ve never met any girlfriends.” Steven nodded, eyes downcast and brows furrowed in thought. Peedee nudged his hand with his knuckles. “Come on, what’s up?”

“My dad has a girlfriend.” he blurted out. “I didn’t even know he was seeing anyone, and then he just introduced me to her without any heads up right before we were supposed to hang out.”

Peedee ignored how odd the thought of genuinely enjoying “hanging out” with your dad was, and shook his head. “Wow.”

“Then I get home, and I find out the Gems knew! They were all keeping it a secret from me. I’d understand this kind of thing if I was a kid, but I’m not. I thought they were done keeping secrets from me. Especially my dad! This is just…” Steven gave Peedee an intense look that despite himself, made his stomach knot. Letting out a deep breath, Steven continued. “Everyone constantly told me how great my mom was, how no one could replace her. Now my dad is dating this girl and, I guess I shouldn’t be acting like this, but it  
feels like a joke? It’s like I’m waiting for some big reveal, or an explanation. It just doesn’t make sense to me.”

“Maybe that’s why they didn’t tell you. I mean, they obviously should have, but they were worried about how you’d react.” 

Steven laughed somewhat bitterly. “Yeah, I realize how stupid I sound, saying it all out loud. My dad deserves to be happy, I mean he’s been mourning my mom for years, right? I should be happy he’s moving on.” He frowned. The spot he’d been chewing on his lip had split and Peedee watched his tongue dart out to lick the blood away, and in an instant the nick was gone. 

“Sometimes we don’t feel things rationally, though. That’s okay.” He knew he was paraphrasing his therapist at that point, but if it got Steven out of this funk, he’d say just about anything.

Things were quiet again and they both turned away to watch the sun set over the horizon. As night enveloped the sky, Steven seemed to perk up a bit. “You’re right, I know you’re right. Thanks for talking through that with me, you didn’t have to.”

“I don’t mind. You know, contrary to what you might think, I like talking to you.” At that, a laugh bubbled out of Steven and he playfully shoved Peedee’s shoulder. 

“I like talking to you, too! We should probably hang out more often.” Steven replied, leaning back on his arms and looking at Peedee. “I don’t know why we don’t.”

“Probably because you’re always out saving the world with your girlfriend while I’m stuck in Capitalist Hell.” When that earned another laugh, Peedee was glad for the dark of night to hide his blush. 

“Connie’s not my girlfriend,” Steven rolled his eyes like that was something he’d had to clarify more times than he could count. Peedee wasn’t really sure what to say in response, so he let it go. 

“Okay! Tomorrow, what are you doing?” Steven asked. After thinking for a second and telling him ‘nothing’, Steven smiled. “Let’s do something fun. Lion can take us pretty much anywhere.”

Peedee had a choice there. He could politely decline, stating his aversion to the weird and its negative effect on his anxiety, or he could say yes and spend the day with Steven Universe. The very same Steven that happened to be part alien, completely beautiful and apparently single.

He thought about what his dad would advise, and he asked, “What time?”

**Author's Note:**

> wow, i wrote this in one go (which is probably obvious lmao) while thinking about how underappreciated my boy peedee is. i really feel like he does not get enough screen time, and also he is GAY GAY GAY. i don't have anything planned out but i really want to continue this because i think these two together would really balance each other out and i love projecting my problems onto cartoon characters. :)


End file.
